"I don't know what to say about the little brother," said Tomlinson a couple days later. "He's like a little brother to me, so I was really happy for him. He had texted me Saturday night about having a good game and whatnot, and I texted him back. Then he goes out and puts up 200. I'm thinking like, `Geez, what have I taught this guy?'"

That's left for the Chargers on the other side of the ball to decipher. Strong safety Clinton Hart, the defensive captain, said his group is "geeked up" for the challenge of stopping their former teammate. The feeling's mutual.

"In practice, I'd run against them to make each other better," said Turner of the Chargers defense. "Now we're trying to beat each other. That's an entirely different tempo. But it'll be weird."

Any weirder than the first 11 games of 2008 in San Diego? That the Chargers are coming off an excruciating last-second loss to the Indianapolis Colts had some extra relevance to Turner, asked for his favorite memory of a game played with the Chargers.

"Two games are neck-and-neck," he said. "Both against the Colts."

The first time he ran for 100 yards, 83 of them came on the longest running TD against the Colts since 1962, still the longest tote of his career. And when the Chargers advanced to last year's AFC Championship Game with an upset of the Colts in Indianapolis, Turner was in the backfield in place of the injured Tomlinson.

Because they went so far last year and were deemed a Super Bowl contender again this season, Turner has seen quite a bit of the Chargers, even if he is in another conference.

"They've got a lot of prime-time games," said Turner. "I know they're in a position they didn't expect to be in. Those guys expect a lot of themselves. I know they're disappointed."